Furnace



e I 22, 1938. J v WOLSIFFER 2,109,243

FURNACE Filed Sept. 5, 1955 D if JJ J0 Patented Feb. 22, 1938 UNHTED lST'EES PATENT OFFICE Application September 4 Claims.

My invention relates to furnaces, and it is the primary object of my invention to improve the efficiency of furnaces by introducing into the center of the stream of gases arising from the fire a current of air carrying oxygen for combination with the unburned gases in the stream. More specifically, it is my object to provide means for delivering air into the center of the fire-pot above the fire, to introduce this air through the usual fire-pot door, and to provide for the conduction of the air by means which will not interfere seriously with the firing of the furnace. A further object of my invention is to produce a device of this kind which will be applicable to furnaces of different dimensions.

In carrying out my invention I mount in the throat of the fire-pot, and desirably near the top of the throat, a relatively wide and thin conduit which extends well into the re-pot where it is provided with air discharge openings, preferably downwardly directed. Against the inner face of the fire-pot door I secure a box, the front face of which is open to receive air through the openings usually provided in the door and the top of which is provided with an air discharge opening communicating with the front end of the conduit previously mentioned. To provide anadequate seal between the box and conduit, I equip the conduit with a vertically slidable sealing member adapted to be seated under the influence of gravity upon the top of the box when the re door is closed. 'n

The accompanying drawing illustrates my invention: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a furnace equipped with my invention, the fire door being shown as opened; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the upper portion of the throat with parts of my device broken away to indicate the construction more clearly; Fig. 3 is a vertical central section through the re-pot in the plane of the throat; and Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3.

The domestic furnace shown in the drawing has the usual fire-pot IIJ and casing II, the repot being provided with a throat I2 which opens through the front of the furnace to receive fuel. The throat l2 is normally closed by a door I3 provided in its central portion with air-admitting openings the effective size of which may be regulated by a rotatable damper I5. The parts so far described are those ordinarily found in most domestic furnaces.

In embodying my invention in a furnace of the kind described, I mount within the throat I2, and preferably as near as possible to the top 5, 1935, Serial N0. 39,198

thereof, a relatively wide and thin air conduit which extends inwardly into the fire-pot to approximately the center thereof. This conduit, and its mounting, may take various forms; but in order to produce a device which will have wide application, I prefer to construct and mount the conduit as illustrated in the drawing.

In the arrangement shown, the conduit is formed of upper and lower opposed channelshaped sections 20 and 2I, which are preferably castings to resist the heat to which they will be subjected and which are secured together by bolts 22. The sections are proportioned to produce a conduit which preferably has, in cross-Section, a horizontal dimension several times its vertical dimension. The lower section 2!) is provided along its edges with longitudinally extending flanges 23 adapted respectively to rest on plates 2li which are in turn supported by brackets 25 secured to the inner faces of the vertical side walls of the throat I2. To provide for the necessary flexibility of installation, the flanges 23 are bolted to the plates 24 by bolts 26 which pass through any of several slotted holes 2l in the flanges 23; and the plates 24 are secured to the brackets 25 by bolts 28 which pass through boltreceiving openings elongated transversely of the conduit. By this arrangement, the device can be mounted in lire-pot openings of different widths, and the conduit can be adjusted longitudinally of itself.

To convey air from the openingsin the door i3 to the conduit I secure against the inner face of the door a box 30, which is open in its front face to receive air through the openings in the fire-pot door. The box 30 is provided With a rearward extension 3| and with a vertical partition 32 which co-operate to define a guideway for a vertically slidable sleeve 33, the partition 32 and the front wall of the sleeve being cut away to provide s for the passage of air from the box into the sleeve.

The bottom section 2|! of theconduit is provided with an opening which is disposed above the sleeve 33 when the door I3 is closed; and in this opening there is mounted a vertically movable sealing member 35. The sealing member is preferably in the form of a casting and has openings extending vertically therethrough. While it is freely slidable in the opening in the lower section 20 of the conduit, it has a relatively tight iit in such opening and is prevented from dropping out of the lower section 20 of the conduit by being provided with one or more outwardly extending flanges 36, as shown in Fig. 4.

'Ihe upper end of the sleeve 33 slopes inwardly and downwardly, as does the lower surface of the sealing member 35. The box 30 is so positioned on the inside of the fire-pot door i3 that when the door is closed the inclined upper surface of the sleeve 33 will engage the sealing member 35 and lift it slightly. Thus, an effective seal is provided between the upper surface of the sleeve 33 and the lower surface of the sealing member 35.

The inner end of the conduit formed by the two sections 20 and 2l is provided with one or more discharge openings. Conveniently, both the upper and lower sections are enlarged somewhat in a horizontal plane at their inner ends with the inner end of the upper section being enlarged to a greater extent than is that of the lower section so that its edge will project outwardly beyond the edge of the lower section. The .extreme inner end of the lower section is cut away so as to be spaced vertically from the upper section, whereby an opening is provided, as is evident from Fig. 3, through which air passing through the conduit escapes into the fire-pot. Owing to the overhang of the edge of the inner -end of the upper section 2 I, this opening is directed generally downwardly. The opening around the periphery of the inner ends of the conduit may, if desired, be lsupplemented by additional air discharge openings 4G in the lower conduit-section 20.

In installing my device-in a furnace, the conduit formed by the sections 2D and 2l is preferably mounted .as close as possible to the top of the throat I2 so as to provide a minimum interference with ring. K As previously pointed out, the slots which receive the bolts 28 enable the device to be mounted in openings of widely varying width; while the slots .21 permit the conduit to be moved ylongitudinally of vitself to the desired position. The box 30 is secured to .the inner face of the door 13,and the sleeve 33 is adjusted vertically in the box-extension A3| until it will raise the sealing member 35 slightly when the door is closed. The sleeve maybe held in -this position by means of screws 4I.v

In operation, 4ai-r enters the box 30 through the openings inthe door I3 and passes upwardly through the sleeve 33 and sealing member 35 into `the conduit formed by the two sections 20 and 2|. The air flows horizontally through this conduit and is discharged in a generally downward direction immediately over the fire. The air discharged from the conduit, having a downward Vcomponentof movement, is flowing counter to the l hot gases arising from the fire, and it becomes intimately mixed therewith in the center of the 'stream of such gases. The air admitted into the conduit is therefore brought intimately into association with any unburned gase's arising from the fire and supplies oxygen necessary for the combustion of such gases.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a furnace having a re-pot provided with a laterally extending throat, a door closing the outer end of said throat, a box secured to the inner face of said door, said door being provided with openings admitting air to said box, a sleeve vertically slidable in said box and communicating therewith, the upper end of said sleeve sloping downwardly and inwardly of said throat, a conduit mounted in said throat with its outer end disposed above said sleeve when the door is closed, said conduit extending into said re-pot and being there provided with air-discharge openings, and a member mounted for vertical sliding movement in the outer end of said conduit and projecting therebelow to engage and seat upon the upper end of saidV sleeve, said member having a passage providing communication between said sleeve and conduit when'the door is closed.

2. In a furnace having a fire-pot provided with a laterally extending throat, a door closing the outer end of said throat, a conduit mounted in said throat and extending into said fire-pot, said door being provided with air-admission openings, the outer end of said conduit being provided in its bottom wall with an air inlet opening, a movable member associated with the inlet opening of said conduit vand adapted todrop downwardly under the influence of gravity, and a box secured to the inner face of said door and in communication with the .air-admission openings therein, said box having a portion providing a seat upon which said said seat having an air outlet opening and said movable `member having a passage connecting said `air outlet opening with said conduit, the inner -end of said conduit being provided with air-discharge openings.

movable member rests when the door is closed, I

3. In a furnace having a fire-pot provided with K a. laterally extending throat., a door closing the outer end of said throat, inwardly extending Y brackets mounted on the opposite side walls of Vsaid throat, plates resting on said brackets, a conduit provided with laterally projecting anges resting on said plates, said brackets being provided with slots elongated transversely of said throat, bolts passing through said plates and the `slots in said brackets, said conduit-flanges being .provided with longitudinally elongated slots, and

of brackets disposedcn opposite sides of said conv duit near the inlet end thereof and adapted for .attachment to opposite walls of the throat of the lire-pot, and -means for connecting said brackets to said conduit in any of various positions relative to the conduit.

JOHN VALENTINE WOLSIFFER. 

